New Zealand-based provider of cloud communications Conversant has established a direct presence in Australia, setting up headquarters in Melbourne and offices in Sydney and Brisbane.

According to Conversant founder and managing director Cameron Beattie, having people on the ground in Australia enables the company to offer local support to existing customers in the country and to expand its Australian client case.

“We’ve been providing the best-supported cloud communications platform to hundreds of businesses in New Zealand and Australia for over 10 years,” Beattie says.

“Now we can provide our Australian customers with local infrastructure, industry-leading support and seamless integration with their New Zealand branches.”

Although Conversant already has resellers in Australia, Beattie believes having its own staff and offices in the country is an important step for the company, as its aims to grow internationally.

“Knowing that we have a local presence and are able to provide direct support is important to our customers in Australia,” he explains.

Opening offices in Australia follows Conversant setting up its own equipment in the country last year, enabling it to deliver the same level of service in Australia as a local PABX provider.

With Conversant, trans-Tasman businesses can run a single cloud-hosted phone system for both their New Zealand and Australian operations, which delivers unique benefits, says Beattie.

“Using either a New Zealand or Australian-based provider often impacts the experience for users based in the other country,” he adds.

“Having the same phone system on both sides of the Tasman makes it simpler for organisations to provide technical support and training to their users. It also allows hot-desking between both countries.

“Because we have equipment on the ground in both Australian and New Zealand, there is no need to dial an international prefix to make local calls, while calls made in either country do not transit through the other.”

In addition, all calls made within an organisation, including conference calls, are free – no matter which side of the Tasman they originate.

Meanwhile, calls to local Australian or New Zealand numbers can also be routed across the Tasman in the event of an internet outage or natural disaster, or if lines at either operation are busy or overloaded.

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